Better Don't Touch | ᴄʜᴏꜱᴏ

December 1st

My best friend Yuji Itadori and I are still carrying boxes in and out of our new apartment in Tokyo. We moved in two days ago, but we've been basically living on the floor until our furniture arrived today, and now we can finally start decorating. I never really thought we'd end up living together after school, too, but it really made the most sense because apartments in Tokyo are damn expensive and two young sorcerers like us don't earn quite so much. Besides, we've been best friends since the first day we met, and if I have to live with anyone, it's with him.

Yuji, strong as he is, has been moving the couch from one place to the next, pushing it against walls or placing it in a corner before finally deciding on leaving it in the middle of the room where I suggested it to go in the first place. I'm watching him from our open kitchen, where I'm washing the dishes before sorting them into the cupboards. He stems his hands into his hips, breathing heavily, and admires his work. After a second of consideration, Yuji pushes one foot of the couch a little with his own foot, then nods, satisfied, and turns to me with a wide smile.

"Done," he says.

I laugh. "Done with the couch. There's still the coffee table and the dining table, and don't forget the cupboards for the bathroom. Oh, and the bedside tables for our rooms."

His face is falling with every word I speak, and when I'm done talking, he sighs. I would have helped him, really, but when I touched the screwdriver earlier, Yuji threw a fit and told me he'd rather do it alone. Now, I can't stop my grin.

"Need some help?"

"Yes, please."

I laugh again as I dry my hands and move to the living room. The apartment is rather big - bigger than either of us needs - but we loved it the very first second we stepped in here. The living room (currently consisting of one big TV and one even bigger, super comfortable couch) has one huge window, floor-to-ceiling, looking out across Tokyo. To the left is the open kitchen with the counter working as a separation of the two rooms. On the right are three doors: those to Yuji's and my rooms, and the one to the bathroom.

We both sit down on the carpet on which the couch table will end up once I'm done assembling it while Yuji gets to work on the dining table. We work faultlessly and efficiently, driving screws and whatnot. When we're done, we brush our hands off on our pants and high-five.

From the fridge, I get us two bottles of cold beer and hand one to Yuji as I sit down next to him on the couch and put my feet up on the new addition of a coffee table. We toast, drink, and sigh, all in synch.

"I can't believe we're getting to spend our first Christmas in our own apartment," Yuji says, looking around the room.

It looks nice. Not quite lived-in yet, but it'll happen soon enough. "We need decorations," I decide out loud. "Like... Christmas stuff. It looks so empty in here."

Yuji nods, drinks, and says, "Definitely. And pictures. We can go shopping for Christmas stuff tomorrow. Some red and green. And gold."

"Lots of gold," I add with a grin.

We sit like this for a while, not really talking but not not talking either. We just sit and admire our new living space. Behind the big TV is the huge window, and we watch over the black screen as the sun goes down. It's almost dark out when we finally close the blinds and turn on the TV. Just when I find something good to watch, Yuji's phone rings from where he left it in his room. He groans and gets up to get it.

For a while, he doesn't return, but I don't worry. It's probably important. I chuckle a little when something funny happens, and pull the blanket a bit higher up. We'll need to turn up the heat tomorrow, or I won't survive the winter once it starts to snow and get really cold. I can't wait.

Yuji returns with a face that could curdle milk, his phone still clutched in his hand. I laugh when I see him. "Well, don't you look cheerful. What's up? Who was that on the phone just now?"

He's not sitting down, nor is he moving in any other way for a moment until his face loosens up enough to let him open his mouth. "That was my brother."

Frowning, I reach for the remote to mute the TV. I know Yuji has a brother, but... I've never heard him say more than two sentences about him. Apparently, they've not been getting along well for the past few years, but they both wanted to change that. In a few weeks, actually. When we're all going out to a little cottage in the forest where we'll spend Christmas. Not just the three of us, but others, too. But why did he call now? Immediately, I stiffen, on alert.

"He says he wants to come here next week. Seems like he got an early vacation, and he can't get a train straight to the cottage, so he'll have to fly here first."

"Oh, well, that's not so bad," I reply, relieved that it wasn't anything serious. "He's been away for a while, so it'll be nice for him to see Tokyo again. And then we can meet up and go to -"

"No, you don't understand," Yuji breaks me off and finally moves to sit down next to me again. "He's coming here. To our apartment. To live with us until we leave for the cottage."

The tension seeps back into my body. "But Christmas isn't until three weeks from now."

Yuji nods as if to say "exactly," and I finally get why his face is doing that scowling thing that I hate.

"He'll be staying here for two weeks?" My voice is way more high-pitched than I'd like, but what am I supposed to do? I've never met Yuji's brother, nor have I heard particular good things about him, and now I'm expected to live with him for two weeks? Oh, for fuck's sake, we just moved in ourselves!

My friend shakes his head. "Hell no. I'd rather pitch myself out of that window-" he points at the window without looking away from me "- than let him live with us for two whole weeks. If he has to, he can get himself a hotel, I don't fucking care."

My breath of relief is immediately followed by a very unsettling thought, contradictory to what I'd really want to think: Yuji and his brother haven't been getting along really well. They've been so much at odds that we never even met, despite me being friends with Yuji for three years now. And even though I don't know why his brother would suddenly want to spend two weeks with us before celebrating Christmas together, he still offered. Ulterior motive or no, this is still a chance for the two of them to find back together.

"Yuji," I say, my voice soft and careful. He turns his head to look at me. "Maybe this isn't such a bad thing. Maybe you should let him come."

"What?"

I shrug. "He obviously wants to make an effort," I point out, "and maybe you might even enjoy having him here. He's your brother, after all."

"Choso is by all means nothing that a brother should be," Yuji remarks, his eyes narrowing.

"Maybe he's trying."

Yuji throws his head back and groans. "Yeah, maybe. Or maybe he's just being an asshole again and wants to ruin my first Christmas in my own apartment."

"Did he sound like that was his plan?" I ask.

He glances at me, obviously annoyed by my question. "No," he states. "But that doesn't mean that it's not true."

I lean my head back, too, and sigh. "Maybe. You won't know for sure unless you give him a chance, though."

"Fine." He throws his hands up in defeat. "Fine, I'll call him back tomorrow." Yuji lifts his head again and nods it at the TV. "What's this you're watching, anyway?"

We watch the show for a while, and that night, when I lie down in bed, I can't bring myself to close my eyes. Yuji's brother is coming. I'm finally going to meet the infamous Choso Itadori. Fuck. This is going to be interesting...